Israeli official concedes, former settler leader will not be envoy to Brazil

Brazilian government has withheld written approval of Dayan for six months, effectively signalling rejection

Israel's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Tzachi Hanegbi conceded on Sunday that former settler leader Dani Dayan will not assume the position of ambassador to Brazil during a meeting on Brazil's refusal to accept Dayan's credentials.

“We needn’t delude ourselves, Dani Dayan will not be the ambassador to Brazil. We condemn Brazil’s behavior,” said Hanegbi, a Likud party member close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The ambassador-elect has been given the cold shoulder for months now with the Brazilian government witholding their written approval of Dayan, effectively signaling rejection of his appointment.

Likud lawmaker Anat Berkow said during the committee meeting that Israel must take care to ensure that Dayan's rejection does not pave the way for other countries to follow Brazil's move and decide Israel's diplomatic appointments.

Hanegbi said that Dayan would instead undoubtedly be appointed as ambassador to a country “just as important.”

The bitter admission comes days after the Palestinian embassy on Wednesday inaugurated its diplomatic mission in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia.

According to a report by The Times of Israel, Brazil rejected Dayan's appointment not only because he is a leading member in the Yesha Council, a committee representing Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but also due to the way in which he was appointed.

Moti Efraim, the Latin America director of Israel's Foreign Ministry, said that it has been waiting for Brazil to issue a response to Dayan's appointment for six months, “an answer we have yet to receive, even though this is an unprecedented situation,” Maariv reported.

Netanyahu previously said that if Dayan was not approved, a different ambassador would not be sent in his place, leaving Israel with only a deputy ambassador to the South American country, representing a de facto downgrade in relations.

The Manquehue Institute for Strategic Studies is a civic organization that pursues both the development of strategic views on main topics related to Latin American countries aimed at the local people, and projecting a faithful image of this region to the world.